Syracuse forward Chineze Nwagbo’s best effort still wasn’t enough for the SU women’s basketball team Saturday.

Nwagbo stepped to the foul line with the Orange trailing Massachusetts, 52-50, and less than a second on the game clock at Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst, Mass. When her first shot went in, it seemed Syracuse had a chance to win, though it shot 31 percent from the field.

But Nwagbo could not win the game by herself. She missed the second attempt and, despite Nwagbo’s career-high 19 points, the Orange fell.

Syracuse (5-1) looks to rebound from its first loss of the season tonight at 7 when Albany (4-1) visits Manley Field House.

‘We struggled scoring,’ Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki said. ‘We turned the ball over for some easy scores. We’ve got to take care of the ball. (Albany’s) an aggressive team. They’re similar to UMass. It’s another good test for us.’

Cieplicki said SU’s struggle at UMass was due to inexperience. The Syracuse starting lineup has two freshmen and two sophomores.

The Orange usually looks to Nwagbo, its captain, for guidance and leadership when the game gets tough. While she provided it on Saturday, the rest of the team did not respond.

‘(Nwagbo) is doing her share,’ Cieplicki said. ‘We’re touting that we’re not a one-player team, but people need to contribute more. We’re just so young. There’s a growth we need to continue to chart. We need to look at it over the season and not just over one game.’

Syracuse needs to provide Nwagbo help against Albany. Danielle Hutcheson, Albany’s 6-foot-4 center, is averaging 14 points per game and was voted to the preseason America East All-Conference team this year.

‘Our key player, Danielle Hutcheson, posed matchup problems for all the teams we’ve played this year,’ Albany head coach Trina Patterson said. ‘Teams have to double- or triple-team her. When we play our game, we believe we’re a hard team to stop.’

While Albany is confident heading into tonight’s game, SU is ready to show its last game was an aberration and not the start of a trend.

After a tough season last year, Syracuse wants to remain positive and focus on the areas it can control.

‘Everyone has a lot more confidence in each other,’ Syracuse guard Lauren Kohn said after beating Binghamton on Dec. 2. ‘It really gives us a lot more freedom to just play.’

Cieplicki said SU needs to relax tonight and that its main focus is to improve shooting in all areas.

The perimeter shooters did continue to improve against UMass, shooting 41 percent from behind the 3-point arc. Syracuse also shot 55 percent from the foul line.

‘At times, they forced a shot,’ Cieplicki said. ‘We haven’t shot great from the line (this season). We do that in a three-point win and it’s no big deal. But it’s a difference in a one-point loss. The perspective changes.’

The Orange knows it needs to shed the shooting woes it had against UMass and return to choosing better shots. The poor showing Saturday came one game after making 73 percent of its shots in the second half against Binghamton.

‘I wish we would have saved some of our shots from the Binghamton game,’ Cieplicki said. ‘Sooner or later we need to make shots. It seems simple, but we’ve got to put the ball in the basket.’

Published on December 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm